Aftermath
by LexieAnge
Summary: silly little one shot I worte on my birthday. I saw the way they looked at each other in the anime then had to read the manga. then had to write this.


Bleach (I don't own it.)

Orihime/Ulquiorra

I didn't get there quick enough. I wanted to hold him. He asked, "Are you scared of me girl?" I never had been. Ulquiorra was the despair to my happiness. In truth, I think, he was the inner me that I thought that I could change. I thought that I would help him be more human. Why? I don't know. I only knew that he was lonely like I was after my brother died..

"I'm not scared." There was no need for him to worry about that. After all this time being with him the last look on his face was that of happiness.

"I see." I saw the man that he was before he became a hollow. I saw the real him. The young man who had lost something dear. Had I given it back to him in his last moments?

Falling to my knees I knew that I would never see him again and my heart stopped. Ulquiorra had become dear to me. For one shinning moment he took the place of Ichigo. Though Ichigo could never have that place again. Ulquiorra was the man I loved. He was now dead.

What dust I could get filled my hand. It threatened to fly away with the rest of him but I wasn't done with it. I wasn't done with him. "I love you, Ulquiorra." I whispered to the dust. "I hope that you will be born again so I can love you then too. We had so little time together."

"Ishida!"

_Save your friends._ I gasped hearing his voice from the dust. _We will meet again._

"Orihime!!!!!!!!!!"

_Go love. We will see each other soon._

So I went to heal Ishida. I put all my remaining energy into it. I would not see another loved one die today. Ichigo went to help the others leaving me with Ishida.

"I am sorry I couldn't save him." Ishida grunted through his pain. Rebuilding limbs is easier on the person when they are out cold.

"Ulquiorra was an enemy." I tired to be cold, hard.

"That didn't stop you from loving him." Ishida reached for my face. "I am sorry Orihime. I didn't want to cause you pain."

"Don't worry about me. Just sit still so that I can get this fixed then we can go help the others." Ishida too had the look on his face. The sadness filled me. "Sorry I got some dust in my eyes." Ishida sat up and kissed my forehead.

"Cry if you want Hime. I will not stop you or tell on you." That was all I needed to hear. While my fairies were at worked I cried into the hand.

It would be years before I would see those sad eyes again. We were in the hospital room waiting to see our baby for the first time. Ishida faithfully at my side since that day. One look at the tiny boy the nurse handed us, I knew that he was back.

"Ishida Ulquiorra." Ishida told the nurse who bowed leaving.

"I know that you wanted to name him after your father." Ishida kissed my forehead again.

"We were brought together by his passing Hime. You told me that he would be back. I saw your faith in that. He did come back like he promised. Took his time too."

"Don't be harsh of him. He did save your life once." I reprimanded my husband. This time I would love Ulquiorra another way. I would never let sadness take a hold of his heart again. "He is our son now so we must protect him for ever and ever."

"Even when we become shinigami we will watch over him." I hugged the same pale boy, happy that the second man I loved would never leave me again.

**

"Hime was the best of us. She loved everyone. She leaves behind the three men that she loved the most. Her brother in arms, Ichigo. Her husband, Ishida and her infant son Ulquiorra. People will think of Hime as a beautiful creature." Rukia spoke to the funeral. Ishida sat next to Ichigo holding his son. "She swore that no one was to feel sadness when she left. She was heading to better thing but I can't help but feel it for the loss of a damn good friend." Rukia pushed the mike away running into the waiting arms if Ichigo.

Ishida passed his son to Tatsuki. He now had to speak about the woman he adored. "Everyone knows I spoiled Hime. Who could blame me? She was my life. Though that accident killed Hime, she is not leaving us. We are talking about Orihime after all. Her cooking will stay in our minds and her smile in her hearts. I know that one day she will be back."

And so they laid the 24 year old Ishida Orihime to rest.

**

It wouldn't be that much longer before she would return to her friends and family. This time as Rukia and Ichigo's daughter. By the time she was four everyone knew that she was back to make sure that Ulquiorra was not sad.

They lived together. They died in each other's arms. They even went to the soul society together.


End file.
